Moving from a Symbolics to an Explorer.

[snicoud@atc.boeing.com (Stephen L. Nicoud)]

    Date: 10 Aug 90 18:24:44 GMT
    From: RDP@ALAN.kahuna.decnet.lockheed.com (Robert D. Pfeiffer)

    I'll probably be branded a traitor for asking this but I
    really need to know:

    What's involved in lifting files from a Symbolics Machine and
    moving to a micro Explorer?

    Important issues:

    What tape format would be best to use?

On an Explorer, the Backup System has the capability to
read/write ascii files in a Carry Tape format.  I don't know
about a microExplorer.

    Will Zmail mail files be readable?

They should be.  I went from Explorer Mail to ZMail about a year
ago.  ZMail didn't recognize some of the attributes of some of
the messages, so I had to manually go through my babyl files and
remove the offending attributes.  I haven't tried going the other
way.

    Are there any random issues pertaining to the mode line in
    Lisp source files?

When I last worked on an Explorer (release 4.1) I don't think it
supported the Syntax attribute.  This may be different in 6.0.

    How similar are the two Zmacs editors?  Would hacks for one
    work in the other?

They are pretty equivalent in functionality and design.  Most of
the keystrokes are the same.  Hacks will, in all likelihood, need
to be recoded.

    Any other comments about compatibility issues?

    Thanks in advance,

    Bob Pfeiffer

    RDP@ALAN.LASC.Lockheed.COM